Pulling into a launch you've never fished before is either the best feeling in fishing or the worst. Best if you've got a plan. Worst if you're standing there staring at the map hoping the fish will tell you where they are. Here's the three-spot rotation I run on every unfamiliar lake — the same three spots, in the same order, every single time. Once you know what these three spots are doing, you know what the whole lake is doing.
🎣 Dad Joke of the Week What do you call a dog that does magic tricks? A labracadabrador. |
Let’s get into it.
🎣 THIS WEEK'S FEATURE |
3 Spots I Always Hit First on a New Lake
You don't need to fish 12 spots to figure out a new body of water. You need to fish three, in the right order, and pay attention to what each one tells you.
| The biggest wind-blown point on the mapWind pushes bait, bait pulls bass. Before you launch, check the wind direction and find the biggest main-lake point the wind is blowing INTO. That's stop one. Doesn't matter if there's an "obvious better spot" a mile down the shoreline — the wind-blown point almost always has active fish stacked at the top of the water column. Throw something that covers water fast: jerkbait, spinnerbait, chatterbait. Stay 15–30 feet off the bank so you're not spooking anything you're about to cast to. |
| The most visible piece of cover from the launchDocks. Laydowns. Boat lifts. Sunken Christmas trees. Whatever's obvious from the ramp. Most guys convince themselves that "obvious" means "overfished" and skip it. Almost every time, they're wrong. If you can see it from the launch, so could every other angler — which means they all passed it up. The fish are still there. Throw a squarebill crankbait tight to it and let the bait deflect off. If nothing hits, skip a soft plastic under it as your follow-up. |
| The first significant depth change in the main basinEvery lake has one — a channel edge, a hump, a ridge, a submerged point. Pull up your fish finder, motor out to the main basin, and find the first place your depth reading changes noticeably. In summer heat, that's where bass live. Once you find it, slow down and work the top edge of the drop with a deep-diving crankbait, a Carolina rig, or a big worm. First bite there usually means several more within a few casts. |
Three spots. Same order. Every lake. What you catch on each one tells you what the fish are doing that day — and gives you a plan for where to spend the rest of your trip. Skip the temptation to run 12 spots on your first outing. Fish these three well, and you'll figure the lake out. |
🛒 GEAR PICKS · 3 BAITS FOR THE 3 SPOTS |
3 baits, one for each spot
Tie one on before you launch. Cast it for 20 minutes at the right spot. If nothing happens, move on to the next.
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📸 BRAG BOARD · READER SPOTLIGHT |
Reader spotlight this week
Big shoutout to Brian Knight for putting together one heck of an outing this week — pair of solid bronze smallmouth from the yak, healthy fish, released clean. Nothing beats an August afternoon when the smallies are cooperating and the launch is quiet. "Was an eventful day" is right, Brian. Keep 'em coming, guys.
Got a fish worth bragging about? Drop it in the Kayak Fishing Dads Facebook group and it might land in a future Brag Board. |
🔋 STILL LIVE |
Redodo Lithium — 10% Off With BDF8
Last couple weeks on the Redodo deal — if kayak power has been on your list, the code BDF8 still stacks 10% off site-wide through the end of the month.
🎣 Don’t Forget — Save the Date The Kayak Fishing Dads Retreat at Lake Marion is happening November 5–8. Spots are filling fast — register at kfdretreat.com before they’re gone. |
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See you on the water. Tight lines!
— Jay